Skip Ten High Kentucky Bourbon

If there’s one brand of liquor that I would tell people to stay away from, it has to be Ten High Kentucky Bourbon. I mean, when this bourbon tastes worst than CVS’s generic Gran Legacy branded whiskey’s, that’s a pretty good sign. Now, don’t take this wrong way. Worst when it comes to the bottom shelf liquor covers a wide range. Just when I thought Gran Legacy is about as bad as it gets, upon trying out Ten High Kentucky Bourbon, I stand corrected. Ten High relative to Gran Legacy is definitely worse. Not only does this whiskey burn the moment it touches your lips but it continues burning throughout your mouth all the way down the tubes. It’s that kind of bad quality whiskey and that’s while attempting to sip it neat. This is one of those whiskey’s, the first one in a long time, that I would suggest that you’re better off drinking this mixed with something else, even if it’s just plain water. It’s harsh. Really harsh. That harshness is even more apparent when you add ice. And there’s this sort of artificial flavoring that tastes something like caramel that just feels really off. What’s more, even if it let the ice melt a bit to dilute it, you’d think that this should cut off some of that harshness. Think again. It doesn’t. Quite the opposite. It’s even more harsh with melted ice in it and that’s the most mind boggling part of it all.

However, if you add a Coke or Pepsi to this, strangely enough, it seems as if the fizzy sugar water actually neutralizes it a bit. Just a bit. At the same time though, since Coke and Pepsi have artificial caramel flavorings, that particular characteristic gets magnified, which makes this whiskey tastes overly sweet yet still harsh in some respects since the carbonation makes it that much more apparent. In order to sufficiently cut off (or cover up) most of the harshness, the ratio of cola to whiskey has to be something like 1 oz of whiskey to 3-4 oz of cola. It cannot be half and half. Whatever ratio you choose, make sure that the cola (or mixer of your choice) is more than the whiskey.

At $12.99 for a 1.75 liter bottle at CVS, it’s definitely a great value but goodness gracious, the taste could definitely use a reformulation. But like the Gran Legacy whiskeys, if you’re looking for a cheap buzz and that’s it, this bottle will fit the bill just fine. Just be sure to have plenty of mixer on you before you embark on your drinking escapades with this cheap bottle of liquor. Otherwise, you’re probably better off spending a couple bucks more to get the same size bottle of Old Crow, which is a far superior Kentucky Bourbon than this.